1. Field of the Invention
The invention refers to a process for heating within a ladle steel melts being covered with a slag rich in iron oxides, in particular for continuous steel production processes such as, for example, the KVA-process, thereby using metallo-thermal heat, as well as to a device for performing this process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known that materials capable of reacting with the oxygen contained in a metal bath can be used for deoxidizing purposes and it is further known that the bath is heated by such a deoxidation, because additional heat is generated by the oxidation of the charged material. The generated heat is not limited to the heat of reaction of the charged material reacting with oxygen dissolved within the bath but consists at least partially also of the heat of solution of the charged material within the metal bath. For deoxidation purposes there are, as a rule, used metals reacting with oxygen, such as, for example, aluminum or silicon or also earth alkaline metals. It is in particular in continuously operated steel production processes such as, for example, the KVA-process, that a melt being only slightly heated above the liquidus temperature flows together with a slag containing iron oxide into a receiving receptacle, and heating of the molten bath could be improved by utilizing, in particular, also the oxygen contained in the slag for metallo-thermal processes. The drawback of such a procedure is, however, superheating of the slag, and deoxidation reactions being performed by adding metallo-thermally reacting materials to the slag result in an only insufficient heating of the bath on account of side reactions taking place within the liquid slag.